Wooden Cycloid Drawing Machine Plans
Concluding April, a friend who knows me also well told me about this new KickStarter for a Cycloid Drawing Auto. I looked at this intriguing adult spyrograph with great wonder, but and then moved onto other things. Only the car continued to pique my interest, and every few days I would expect at it once again, trying to rationalize practical uses for it so I could justify ownership one. Finally, in early May, I threw caution to the wind and ordered one.
Immediately, without having received the physical object, I grew concerned that I would run out of, or waste the paper that it uses. So I decided to create a "virtual" software version of the Cycloid Drawing Machine that I could utilise to experiment with, and figure out ideal settings for the machine.
I looked carefully at the photographs & videos of the existing device, and made a Processing sketch (a computer program in the Processing linguistic communication) that simulated a particular drawing depicted on Joe'south Kickstarter page.
Subsequently a day or so, I was able to get my simulation within the ballpark, merely I had a few issues.
Firstly, since I had eyeballed the measurements of the machine based on photographs and videos, I knew they weren't quite close enough to the existent thing — I wanted to get more accurate measurements. Secondly, I was worried that if I were to publish this code, as I do with many of my projects, I might be cannibalizing sales of the concrete device.
Both problems could exist addressed by contacting Joe Freedman, the inventor, so I sent him the above moving-picture show, told him about my project, and asked for his input, somewhat worried that he might accept a very negative reaction to this development.
I was relieved that Joe was really quite thrilled. "I'd love to have you lot do the interactive simulation," Joe wrote. He not simply sent me the vector illustrations of his parts that I asked for, but besides an actual working Cycloid Cartoon Auto, months ahead of his planned delivery appointment, not to mention a few other awesome toys that he makes in his workshop.
The plans and the car itself were a revelation, and I was able to significantly improve my Cycloid Drawing Machine Simulator (CDMS), which you lot may now play with in your web browser. Here it is!
[ Warning: If yous are reading this on a phone or tablet, I advise you use a desktop computer for playing with the CDMS – information technology'southward besides big for phones, and many tablets are either too small, or too slow to handle it.
I should also warn you that its not hard to create configurations on the CDMS which are impractical on the real device. I've stumbled into designs that are hard to creepo because of inadequate torque, a non-upshot on the CDMS. These bug are best discovered by using the existent thing. ]
As Joe and I worked together over the following days, nosotros were able to assistance each other immensely — Joe gave me lots of insider knowledge about how to utilize the machine effectively; and as an early beta-tester for Joe, I was able to provide some feedback about what new users of the machine would struggle with. Spurred on by the project, Joe fabricated a series of helpful instructional videos, which he shared.
While Joe seemed delighted with the simulation, he did eventually show some worry virtually what outcome it might accept on his existing customers. "I'm uncertain nigh how people will answer to the advent of a gratuitous digital version," he wrote. "Information technology is a dissimilar thing and a unlike feel but you've done such a brilliant job of recreating the analog that I worry. I however like to creepo the gears simply its been groovy to explore potential setups with the digital cdm." This was a worry that I shared, initially. It would be a shame if my virtual machine were to deprive folks from experiencing the very valuable tactile experience of the real machine.
At the same fourth dimension, I saw that my simulation was proving to be a valuable educational tool for both Joe and myself. We were able to chop-chop notice new drawings, and to intuit better the mathematical underpinnings of the machine. One particularly interesting question I managed to answer was "given a detail configuration of the auto, how many times exercise you need to crank it to finish a drawing?" and the related question "is it possible to create a drawing that never finishes?". Having solved these to my own satisfaction, I will permit you lot discover the answers in your own time.
In addition, Joe and I were able to create movies that showed the effect of the changing parameters (such equally pen arm position) on the finished drawings. These proved to be hugely instructive.
[ By the fashion, the spider web version of the CDMS tin't make movies easily, but I have also published my code for the stand-alone Processing version, which can. ]
While I started out being worried that my virtual car might hurt the sales of the real machine, those fears began to evaporate as Joe and I continued to piece of work together.
I realized that the combination of the physical and the virtual auto creates a kind of virtuous feedback loop that improves both immensely. I believe that the virtual automobile may certainly dissuade some folks from buying the real thing, but I believe it will also encourage other folks to buy, in equal or greater numbers (for the same reason that using a flight simulator doesn't dissuade me from flying).
The virtual motorcar is absurd and easier to utilize, just information technology lacks much of the charm of the concrete device. Moreover, the output of the real CDM is inevitably different than the CDMS, non only because my measurements are still slightly off, but considering its real. Dissimilar pens accept different radii. Pens don't output perfect strokes. Wooden gears don't create perfect circles, and man easily don't produce constant force. All of this combines to create output which is much less perfect, and much more human. The drawings I am choosing to frame are the ones that have these imperfections.
Y'all'll find my Cycloid Drawing Machine Simulation (CDMS) here.
http://wheelof.com/sketch/
Source lawmaking for the web version (Processing-JS) is here, and for the stand-lone version (Processing-Java) is here.
You lot can purchase the concrete auto at Joe's online shop.
Have fun with them both!
Source: https://blog.krazydad.com/2015/07/12/cycloid-drawing-machine-simulation/
0 Response to "Wooden Cycloid Drawing Machine Plans"
Post a Comment